New Bern Noon Rotary Club Fed Up With Hunger’

People of Craven County proved they have a generous spirit for those in hunger by their holiday season donations to area food banks, but those gifts have been given and the cupboard is sometimes nearly bare at pantries like the one at Religious Community Services in New Bern.

People of Craven County proved they have a generous spirit for those in hunger by their holiday season donations to area food banks, but those gifts have been given and the cupboard is sometimes nearly bare at pantries like the one at Religious Community Services in New Bern.

Giving has dwindled, RCS Director Mike McMillan said, but the need for basic food by families in Craven, Pamlico and Jones counties “has doubled in two years. We’ve tried to understand why this increase has occurred, but just know it is there.”

Advised of the need by some of the more than 18,000 Craven residents living below the poverty level — including more than 1,700 seniors and over 6,500 children — and New Bern Noon Rotary members decided they are “fed up with hunger.”

As a group, they made a New Year’s Resolution to provide 50,000 local meals by the end of February, said Debbie Taggart, club president. To reach this goal, the club has launched a $12,500 “Fed Up With Hunger” community campaign. The effort brings local partners and volunteers together to donate the pre-packaged nutritious meals to RCS for distribution.

Noon Rotary Club is partnering with Outreach, Inc., an Iowa-based nonprofit that has supplied over 20 million meals to children and families around the world, Taggart said.

“In February, Outreach will deliver enough bulk rice, beans, vegetables, vitamins and minerals to New Bern to package 50,000 individual meals at a cost of 25 cents a meal,” she said. “On Feb. 23, more than 150 community volunteers will assemble these meals for delivery to RCS.”

A $5,000 donation by New Bern Noon Rotary along with a number of volunteers to help in the hands-on effort is kicking off the drive, Taggart said. Another $7,500 will be needed to reach the goal, and the club is reaching out to individuals, companies and organizations who share their desire to feed Craven County’s hungry.

Taggart said, “New Bern’s Ruby Tuesday restaurant on U.S. 70 East is offering significant support to ‘Fed Up With Hunger’ through its Community GiveBack program.”

Restaurant manager Tina Davis dedicated seven days in January and February including Feb. 6 and 20 where 20 percent of purchases there will be donated to the drive when visitors present special GiveBack flyers now at the restaurant and on website newbernfedupwithhunger.org.

“I’m thrilled we can be part of this program,” Davis said. “I hope a lot of people will also be excited and help support this local effort.”

McMillan said, “RCS saw a dramatic increase in food pantry requests right after Hurricane Irene and they haven’t gone back to pre-Irene levels.”

He said, “The folks who come in and ask for help are generally in some kind of crisis to make the trip” to RCS Food Pantry at 910 George St. “For a household on limited income or where the household income is at or below the poverty, an unexpected event can create unexpected crisis. A medical emergency can create a choice between medicine and food. A significant weather change can create a choice between utility costs or food.”

Page 2 of 2 - “RCS’s Food Pantry Program attempts to lighten the impact when an unforeseen crisis occurs,” McMillan said. “We give them what we estimate is a week’s worth of food. It’s a meager estimate guided on a chart on the wall based on size of family.”

“This drive is needed and well appreciated,” McMillan said. “This community has always been very responsive when they learn of a need and try to address that need as well as they can. This Rotary effort is one of those examples.”

“These 50,000 meals to the hungry will greatly benefit the least of our community,” he said. “It will certainly bring smiles to the faces of both those who have given of themselves to create this gift and to those who receive it. It is a gift of nourishment to the body and to the soul.”

Sue Book can be reached at 252-635-5665 or sue.book@newbernsj.com. Follow her on Twitter@SueJBook.